VietNamNet Bridge – According to the city’s social-economic report of the first quarter 2013, more than 104,000 new vehicles, including over 26,000 cars, were registered during this period. On average, the city had nearly 300 newly-registered cars per day.

 

 

The number of newly-registered vehicles in this period grew nearly 16 percent over the same period of 2012, with the highest rate for cars. The number of new cars registered in the first quarter 2013 is higher than the entire number registered in 2012.

With the dramatic increase in the number of vehicles, by the end of March 2013, the total number of motored vehicles in HCM City surpassed six million units, including nearly 547,000 cars and nearly 5.519 million motorcycles.

According to a report on the program for reducing traffic congestion in the first quarter 2013, the city did not have any case of congestion that is over 30 minutes long. However, the local authorities acknowledged the result is unsustainable because the number of personal vehicles and especially cars has increased too quickly, causing further overload to the urban transport system.

Statistics of the HCM City Road Traffic Police Department show that in just 10 years (2000-2010), the number of motored vehicles in the city increased almost three folds, from 1.7 million units in early 2000 to more than 4.8 million units in early 2010.

By the end of 2011, the total number of vehicles in the city was nearly 5.524 million vehicles, of which there were more than 494,000 cars. By the end of November 2012, the number reached over 5.899 million units, with nearly 515,000 cars. And by the end of March 2013, it officially surpassed six million units.

Motorcycles or cars should be restricted?

The pressure from rapid growth of vehicles is a huge burden for urban infrastructure of HCM City. Many experts have warned of serious congestion in the city in the time to come, caused by private cars, the vehicle that occupies large space on the road but is very limited in the number of people transported.

This warning is reasonable as most roads in HCM City are small ones, which are unsuitable for cars. Cars use the space that is 3-5 times more than the motorcycle. Also, in HCM City, the growth rate of cars is much higher than that of motorcycles.

Prof. Dr. Pham Xuan Mai, from the Institute for Transport Development Strategy, conducted a survey in HCM City, with up to 60 percent of the respondents supporting restriction of private cars in five major cities (Hanoi, HCM City, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Can Tho). Some 51 percent of the respondents said that cars should be limited first and only 25 percent recommended limiting motorcycles first.

Dr. Vo Kim Cuong from the HCM City Planning and Development Association also said that restricting private cars first to reduce congestion is appropriate to the current urban structure in the city.

Nguyen Sa